Placing Blame for Kansas Football’s Gut-Wrenching Loss to Arizona

The Kansas Jayhawks suffered another tough loss on Saturday, this time at the hands of the Arizona Wildcats.

After trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, KU was able to tie up the game 7-7 thanks to a goal-line score by quarterback Jalon Daniels.

The Jayhawks scored 17 unanswered points in the first half before Arizona scored a touchdown with 0:23 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 17-14 entering the half.

After trading field goals in the third quarter, KU held a 20-17 lead all the way through the end of the fourth quarter. But after (normally reliable) Laith Marjan missed a 30-yard field goal to put the Jayhawks up six, the Wildcats drove the length of the field and scored the game-winning touchdown with just 0:39 seconds remaining.

There were a number of reasons that led to yet another frustrating loss which now puts the Jayhawks in further jeopardy of missing a bowl game for the second straight season.

Penalties

KU suffered a number of costly penalties at inopportune moments that could have easily changed the course of the game.

The first one came late in the second quarter when Leroy Harris III picked off Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita on an errant throw and returned it for a 77-yard touchdown. The play would have put the Jayhawks up three scores (24-7) entering half time had it not been for a defensive holding call on Kansas cornerback Jalen Todd.

The play wasn’t anywhere near the intended receiver and gave the Wildcats a first down on KU’s 15-yard line where they scored two plays later to cut the score to 17-14 in Kansas’ favor.

The second major penalty came on the final drive of the game as the Jayhawks were attempting to make their comeback when running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. had a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced the Jayhawks back to their own 38-yard line (from Arizona’s 47) and all but sealed their fate in a loss.

In total, KU had five penalties for 55 yards.

Dropped passes and interceptions

The Jayhawks had multiple opportunities at interceptions throughout the game but were never able to make the play.

Early in the fourth quarter, Kansas cornerback Taylor Davis nearly picked off Fifita after it ricocheted off of receiver Kris Hutson’s hands. It was a tough ball to catch but had Davis made it, the Jayhawks would have had the ball at Arizona’s 37-yard line with a chance to add to their 20-17 lead.

Later in the fourth quarter, cornerback Syeed Gibbs dropped what would have been an easy pick-six and instead allowed the Wildcats to punt away on fourth down.

Kansas wide receivers had their share of drops in the game too that forced the Jayhawks into several third-and-long situations and failed third down conversions.

It put the offense in a tough spot multiple times and contributed to the low scoring day from the Jayhawks.

Coaching

Some peculiar play calling and questionable decision making by head coach Lance Leipold and his staff definitely played a role in KU’s loss today – as it has in other games this season.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Kansas had a 3rd and 5 on Arizona’s 40-yard line. Daniels threw an incomplete pass to wide receiver Emmanual Henderson Jr., and then instead of electing to go for it to extend the drive and perhaps go up two scores, Leipold decided to take an intentional five-yard delay of game penalty to move the Jayhawks back to Arizona’s 45-yard line where they then decided to punt.

The punt landed in the end zone in a touchback – resulting in just a 20-yard net gain for the Jayhawks compared to if they had gone for it on 4th and 5 and gotten zero yards.

Then late in the fourth quarter with the game seemingly in hand as the Jayhawks were driving towards the end zone, the drive stalled on Arizona’s 11-yard line with 2:39 remaining in the game. Daniels was shaken up on the previous play after trying to run for the first down but had to exit the field to get quickly examined by the training staff.

Facing a 4th and 2, Leipold chose to kick a field goal to try to put the Jayhawks up 23-17 (still a one score game), but Marjan missed the 30-yard attempt. The Wildcats took over from there and drove the length of the field to win the game 24-20.

The decision to not go for it on both of those fourth downs ended up being a big part of why the Jayhawks lost that game.

It shouldn’t even be a question as to whether to go for it in those situations when you have a six-year quarterback at your disposal and a suspect defense.

The conservative play calling has doomed this team time and time again. And if this coaching staff can’t finally learn that lesson, it’s just going to result in more of these tough losses.